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The letter cites N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 and states the date your landlord’s deadline passed — 30 calendar days after the date the tenancy ended.
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The full letter with your facts, the New Jersey deadline, the deposit table and the statute quoted — watermarked. You only pay to remove the watermark and get the PDF.
Rule applied: 30 calendar days after the date the tenancy ended, per N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1.
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This tool produces a self-help document. It is not legal advice, no attorney-client relationship is created, and no outcome is guaranteed. If your claim is large or disputed, speak to a landlord-tenant lawyer or legal aid.
This is a real letter, produced by the same engine that makes the PDF, with a fictional tenant and landlord and New Jersey’s actual rule. Read it before you pay for anything — it is exactly what you would receive.
November 4, 2026
VIA CERTIFIED MAIL — RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Dear Property Manager:
I rented the premises at 77 Rented Avenue, Springfield from you. My tenancy ended and I moved out on August 26, 2026. I paid a security deposit of $2,400.00.
You have returned $700.00 of that deposit. $1,700.00 remains unreturned.
Under N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1, you were required to return the deposit and an itemized statement of any deductions no later than September 25, 2026 — 30 calendar days after the date the tenancy ended. That date passed 40 days ago, and I have received no payment of the balance.
You did not give me a written, itemized statement of the deductions you are keeping, although N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 requires one.
The deposit I paid was $2,400.00. You returned $700.00. The balance I am asking you to return is $1,700.00.
The rule that applies is N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1. The state's official source for it is listed for this state on locafact.com, and the fragments below are quoted from the statute text captured for this letter.
The statute describes the deductions a landlord may make as follows: Within 30 days after the lease or license agreement terminates the owner must return the deposit plus the tenant's portion of interest or earnings, less charges expended under the contract, lease or agreement, with the interest/earnings and every deduction itemized and notified to the tenant by personal delivery, registered or certified mail; for a displaced tenant the net sum must be available for return on demand for 30 days at a location in the same municipality, and no deductions may be made from the deposit of a tenant who remains in possession.
The deadline is measured in calendar days: 30 calendar days after the date the tenancy ended, which for the dates above is September 25, 2026.
“Within 30 days after the termination of the tenant's lease or licensee's agreement, the owner or lessee shall return by personal delivery, registered or certified mail the sum so deposited plus the tenant's portion of the interest or earnings accumulated thereon, less any charges expended in accordance with the terms of a contract, lease, or agreement, to the tenant or licensee”
“The interest or earnings and any such deductions shall be itemized and the tenant, licensee, executor, administrator or surviving spouse notified thereof by personal delivery, registered or certified mail.”
“the court upon finding for the tenant, licensee, executor, administrator or surviving spouse shall award recovery of double the amount of said moneys, together with full costs of any action and, in the court's discretion, reasonable attorney's fees.”
“An owner or lessee of a tenant on whose behalf deposits were made by a State entity and who has willfully and intentionally withheld such deposits in violation of this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of not less than $500 or more than $2,000 for each offense.”
Because if the court finds for the tenant, N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 may also allow amounts above the unreturned balance:
• 2× the moneys due to the tenant (the amount above the unreturned balance): $1,700.00
• attorney’s fees are in the court’s discretion
• court costs
On the figures above, that is up to $1,700.00 in addition to the $1,700.00 unreturned balance — a possible total of up to $3,400.00. These amounts are not owed unless the condition the statute sets out is established; they are stated as the possible exposure, not as a demand.
Please pay me $1,700.00 within ten (10) days of the date of this letter.
A check payable to me can be sent to the address at the top of this letter. If you believe some part of the deposit was properly kept, send me an itemized statement with the receipts or invoices for each amount.
If I do not receive payment or a written response within that time, I will consider filing a claim in small claims court for the unreturned deposit and any amount the statute allows, and I will keep this letter and the certified-mail record as evidence.
This is a self-help document, not legal advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.
The deadline from your dates and the state rule (30 calendar days after the date the tenancy ended), the days late, the unreturned balance, and — where the statute has a verified penalty — the possible exposure above that balance.
Yes. The whole letter is shown watermarked, free. You pay only to download the clean PDF.
No. It is a self-help document tool, not a law firm. No outcome is guaranteed.